SOCA Wins Prestigious Preservation Design Award

The Sacramento Old City Association (SOCA) nominated the City of Sacramento’s Preservation Commission and Preservation Office for a California Preservation Foundation, 2011 Preservation Design Award under the Cultural Resource Studies, Reports category. SOCA is pleased to announce this collaborate effort has won this prestigious award to be presented at the CPF awards ceremony in San Francisco on October 1, 2011.

Until 2008, a network of “underground” resources in downtown Sacramento remained relatively unknown. Since then, the City’s 1860s and 1870s system of raised streets and hollow sidewalks has gained popularity as Sacramento worked to understand and raise awareness of its “subterranean” resources.

Sacramento’s collaborative effort to preserve Sacramento’s historic underground was initiated by the City’s Preservation Commission and City Preservation Staff. This network of underground resources was constructed during the 1860s and 1870s in downtown Sacramento as an early means of flood control. With help from the Capitol City Preservation Trust and State Office of Historic Preservation (OHP), who both contributed funding, the City hired Page and Turnbull to survey and document the city’s raised streets and hollow sidewalks. SOCA then hired an independent consultant, working with OHP staff, to develop a broader historic context and evaluate the underground resources as a cultural landscape; both studies found the resources eligible for listing on the Sacramento, California, and National Register.

Enthusiasm generated by the underground survey provided support for the Historic Old Sacramento Foundation and the California State Parks to establish the Underground Tour Program in Old Sacramento State Historic Park. The survey continues to help to ensure the impacts to these resources are considered during decision making on future development projects. Moreover, this effort has created a public awareness of Sacramento’s underground. Thanks to the City of Sacramento, the state OHP, and non-profit preservation organizations, people throughout the Sacramento region now understand the historic significance of the Sacramento’s underground resources.

see the attached pdf for the full SOCA submittion to CPF with photos of Sacramento’s Raised Streets and Hollow Sidewalks. Enjoy!